Have you been a victim of "Fluke Discrimination" on the job?

[slipjointed]

I read every once in a while some anecdote about Fluke being the "only" meter you can trust. I was working a job as a contractor a while ago, with an Agilent 1241 meter as a loaner. We were calibrating a bunch of pressure and temperature sensors, and the foreman walked by and saw the meter I was using, and said something to the effect of, "What is that Crap? I won't have you working this job with any junk meter, you need to go find a Fluke to use or go home."

I came damned close to just going home, but I didn't want to lose the remaining couple days I had on the job, so I just sucked it up and borrowed a Fluke from one of the in-house techs.

It really pissed me off, first because this guy was too stupid to know that I was using a high quality meter, and second because I was being called an amateur by a guy who probably didn't know 1/4 what I did, if that.



I've gotten a couple other blips here and there, but luckily my main meter (until today, I just ordered a BK 2709B), was a Fluke 83, so I haven't had to deal with it for the most part.

Even fluke uses "If you don't have a Fluke, you aren't a pro" as part of their advertising. To be completely honest, I find it rather offensive.

I'm sure it's great business for them though.

[Zad]

Sounds like he had his head up his arse. If that happened to me, I'd go home and bring an AVO back with me. Now they are proper meters.

[Kibi]

Ja, that's some bullshit. I'd be really pissed.
Agilent aren't exactly cheap meters are they? Any good engineer should know that Agilent are a very well respected manufacturer of test equipment.
Sure, you might get the odd snide comment from a Fluke fanboy, but that's just workplace banter in my opinion, it happens. If you were working with a Sam's Club Special, then the guy may have had a point.
Having said that, I own three Fluke models. One I got second hand for my 16th birthday, second one was part of my works tool case which I purchased when I left. I only consciously bought a Fluke 287 because I wanted a logger and it was going for a very good price. But, I like to keep an open mind and I'd have no problem using an Agilent meter, my Agilent 'scope is awesome.

[Zero999]

It'd piss me off too. I'd never buy a Fluke because I consider them poor value for money.

[Mechatrommer]

if the pay is good and the guy is your hirer, then you should shut up and follow what he say. if the pay is not good and he is your hirer, you should say, "i will charge you double for that". if the pay is good and he is nobody, you should say STFU! if the pay is not good and he's nobody, slam that agilent on his face, tell him "this is a drop test".

[Kiriakos-GR]

Yes the know conspiracy of multimeters , they can damage your profile for good. 

If you proudly hold a Fluke in Greece, and walk in the factory ( work ) , the 99% of your own "friends - technicians" they will call you as prick.
As person with no skills that you just show off your expensive gadget.
An true low life person, that with out holding the daemonic emblem of Fluke, no one would ever notice his existence.

Your are all welcome to come and stay in Greece, the land of the true free people,
you can even walk in the street proudly with a modern mastech crap on your hand, and feel like prince ... LOL
You can even hold an Agilent on your hand and be proud too, as long all the others believe that is an upgraded mastech.   

Fluke are a nice company with worthy products, but it had become victim of some morons advisers,
who turned one simple advertising campaign in to a brain wash.

Some reactions in favor of Fluke from Americans could be, due that they feel positive about using only American made gear.
By banning any foreign gear, they believe that this is their duty to do,  its their ethical contribution or fight,  in favor of the American economy.

I do not eat anything .. Made in USA...  ( I fight them back too.)   

Eat all your pop corn and hamburgers by your self's ...   LOL 

   

   

[Achilles]

Hehee, yeah, Trademark bashing.
It really depends who is talking that shit to you. If he is the one who pays you for the job and you want or need the money, just go for it and think "customer is king". If he is just somebody there who wants to profile himself. Go take some High Voltage leads and try if his head gives you a nice oldschool CRT glow.... I am quite sure there a vacuum in it.
It doesn't matter what's on it, it matters what's inside

...there is a reason why lots of professional photographers camouflage their equipment .....

[Alex]

If you proudly hold a Fluke in Greece, and walk in the factory ( work ) , the 99% of your own "friends - technicians" they will call you as prick.
As person with no skills that you just show off your expensive gadget.
An true low life person, that with out holding the daemonic emblem of Fluke, no one would ever notice his existence.

Jealous much? 

[Kiriakos-GR]

If you proudly hold a Fluke in Greece, and walk in the factory ( work ) , the 99% of your own "friends - technicians" they will call you as prick.
As person with no skills that you just show off your expensive gadget.
An true low life person, that with out holding the daemonic emblem of Fluke, no one would ever notice his existence.

Jealous much? 

I think that this is even worst than that.
Like a permanent mental condition, that have as source that the majority of the technicians comes from poor families.
And they carrying with them cheap stereotypes. 

I am coming from an middle class home, living in one advanced city, its not the center of the world but it is advanced.
I had the flame to learn one or two foreign languages from my young-hood,  I made as target to upgrade my personality in to the point to be able to communicate with higher in education people than me.

And all this continuous battle so to become a better person and gain your targets, drives you to loneliness,
and your own environment deals you with envy.

And all this thoughts stops me from starting a similar blog in Greek.
There is no chance to get any appreciation by the most of my own people.
Probably I will receive congratulations only from my professors and teachers, but they are few !!     
 
   

[Mechatrommer]

...there is a reason why lots of professional photographers camouflage their equipment .....

professional do some research and buy their gear, no matter what brand it is, they will settle with it. if they camouflage, its because they want to protect from weather. if somebody camouflage his equipment because he afraid somebody bashing him for the brand, he's not professional. a professional can answer when somebody bash his equipment brand. and somebody buying top rank equipment without proper research and knowledge or need, he too not a professional.

[Flavour Flave]

You should have said to him.
"Where's your Agilent?"
"What f****ng Agilent?"
"This f****ng Agilent?"

I read every once in a while some anecdote about Fluke being the "only" meter you can trust. I was working a job as a contractor a while ago, with an Agilent 1241 meter as a loaner. We were calibrating a bunch of pressure and temperature sensors, and the foreman walked by and saw the meter I was using, and said something to the effect of, "What is that Crap? I won't have you working this job with any junk meter, you need to go find a Fluke to use or go home."

I came damned close to just going home, but I didn't want to lose the remaining couple days I had on the job, so I just sucked it up and borrowed a Fluke from one of the in-house techs.

It really pissed me off, first because this guy was too stupid to know that I was using a high quality meter, and second because I was being called an amateur by a guy who probably didn't know 1/4 what I did, if that.



I've gotten a couple other blips here and there, but luckily my main meter (until today, I just ordered a BK 2709B), was a Fluke 83, so I haven't had to deal with it for the most part.

Even fluke uses "If you don't have a Fluke, you aren't a pro" as part of their advertising. To be completely honest, I find it rather offensive.

I'm sure it's great business for them though.

[BravoV]

True professional doesn't need recognition from silly tag or label, only the half baked moron needs that, cause thats the only way to get a recognition for them.

[Uncle Vernon]

If you proudly hold a Fluke in Greece, and walk in the factory ( work ) , the 99% of your own "friends - technicians" they will call you as prick.
As person with no skills that you just show off your expensive gadget.
An true low life person, that with out holding the daemonic emblem of Fluke, no one would ever notice his existence.

Jealous much? 

Indeed!

"As person with no skills that you just show off your expensive gadget."

Could be that's nothing to do with the meter.

An true low life person, that with out holding the daemonic emblem of Fluke

Clearly an equal opportunity workplace, anyone gets a start!

[Uncle Vernon]

if the pay is good and the guy is your hirer, then you should shut up and follow what he say.

Somebody gets it!

A Fluke is a recognised symbol, your garden variety clueless consultantant will be far more impressed by a Fluke 177 in a hard case than by many superior but lesser known meters. Do you want to argue with idiots or get the job signed off and the invoice in?

For those with time enough to argue the toss with wet behind the ears bureaucrats, I'd suggest having a calibration certificate handy if you expect to get anywhere.

If you wanted to be seen as a cowboy you wear a sailor suit, similarly having the brands that satisfy the perceptions of others, has lots to do with matching their perceived images. It's not a perfect world, having a Fluke doesn't make you a good engineer or tradesman, but perceptions are everything. Fluke is perceived as top shelf by a lot of the industry.

You don't have to limit yourself to Fluke by any stretch but having at least one on hand is a wise move. Why waste the time having an argument when the other side wont be listening.

 

[Achilles]

...there is a reason why lots of professional photographers camouflage their equipment .....

professional do some research and buy their gear, no matter what brand it is, they will settle with it. if they camouflage, its because they want to protect from weather. if somebody camouflage his equipment because he afraid somebody bashing him for the brand, he's not professional. a professional can answer when somebody bash his equipment brand. and somebody buying top rank equipment without proper research and knowledge or need, he too not a professional.

Partly right . Their equipment is sealed anyway, but they don't want to walk around as advertisement (that's why they put some tape on the Brand-imprint). Others do it that it doesn't look attractive to thieves (may be working, but I don't think so ).Normally they buy a  brand and stay there, but more of the high investment in lenses and other accessories they use.
Hobbyist are a bit more....hm......like the fluke-fans....

[EEVblog]

Even fluke uses "If you don't have a Fluke, you aren't a pro" as part of their advertising. To be completely honest, I find it rather offensive.
I'm sure it's great business for them though.

That's clever business marketing. Find out how the industry perceives your product, and push that angle until the cows come home.


About 20 second in, Gates has it nailed. "You make them need what you have, and then they have nowhere else to go."

Dave.

[slipjointed]

if the pay is good and the guy is your hirer, then you should shut up and follow what he say.

That is precisely what I did. I'm good at keeping my mouth shut when needed. I know the guy's an idiot, and I billed him for the time it took to go find a Fluke, so I got a small revenge.

...there is a reason why lots of professional photographers camouflage their equipment .....

Another reason is similar to what irritates me about Fluke discrimination.

I have a friend that is a professional photographer, a very good one, and he got tired of customers questioning his brand of choice.

The thing is, nearly ever person has at one point in their life heard that Olympus sucks, or Canon sucks, or Nikon sucks. The sad thing, is usually that is anecdotal in nature, and in reference to some crappy point and shoot. Still, that hasn't stopped idiot customers from commenting on his equipment because they heard from some other idiot that the brand he uses isn't good.

He actually has had customers try to bargain down the price of the photoshoots because they didn't like the brand of equipment he was using.

[snip]

For those with time enough to argue the toss with wet behind the ears bureaucrats, I'd suggest having a calibration certificate handy if you expect to get anywhere.

I agree with your post, but it does irritate me that the same picky bean counters that are willing to demand paperwork for non-fluke meters, will often overlook lack of the same for fluke meters. Hypocrisy sucks, but it is what it is.

That's clever business marketing. Find out how the industry perceives your product, and push that angle until the cows come home.

I certainly don't hate them for it on a business level, I guess I'm insulted more on a personal level... that they would take it upon themselves to suggest to others that they should question my skill, because I didn't choose to buy their brand.

[Zero999]

if the pay is good and the guy is your hirer, then you should shut up and follow what he say.

That is precisely what I did. I'm good at keeping my mouth shut when needed. I know the guy's an idiot, and I billed him for the time it took to go find a Fluke, so I got a small revenge.

I used to work for Lockheed Martin, a company which makes military equipment. I wouldn't have been allowed to use my own meter. None of people working there were allowed to use their own test equipment. Every meter had to have a certificate of calibration and be recorded in the company quality register. There were a range of different meters: AVO, Fluke, HP etc.

This is a more sensible approach, although it seems way over the top, if the test equipment is going to be used on aeroplane and tanks it makes sense.

[Frangible]

I've had people sneer at my Fluke 77 on occasion.  I show them the cal sticker and shrug.  If they want me to use a particular piece of equipment, they can issue it to me.  People get religion on something and you can't change their mind.

[Uncle Vernon]

[snip]

For those with time enough to argue the toss with wet behind the ears bureaucrats, I'd suggest having a calibration certificate handy if you expect to get anywhere.

I agree with your post, but it does irritate me that the same picky bean counters that are willing to demand paperwork for non-fluke meters, will often overlook lack of the same for fluke meters. Hypocrisy sucks, but it is what it is.

Irritating to the Nth degree, but when most consultants have their actual work done by wet behind the ears graduates, too stupid to learn from the professionals they deal with it's to be expected. By the time the grads gain a clue and realise that the tradesmen, techs and engineers they deal with, have a clue, they move on and the cycle repeats.

You will see requests for ridiculous instrument accuracy, for readings to be taken with a handheld at any temperature with any old set of leads.

Same applies for calibration, when the certified as calibrated instrument is grabbed from within a 50°C vehicle cabin to make some random measurement. It's a joke, but it's real.  I've given up arguing with stupid people. Whatever is the quickest and most productive rules.

[elliott]

I know an HVAC tech who uses a Fluke 289, which is such a waste. He turned up his nose at my Radio Shack 22-812 when I was working on a car, he told me to get a real meter. Checking against his Fluke, the differences in readings came down to rounding because mine had less digits. Nothing I was doing at the time needed more than 1% accuracy anyway and I know nothing in HVAC work needs that kind of accuracy either, the main thing he needs is the CAT III and CAT IV rating.

I did pick up a "real meter" though recently, an Extech EX530. If he starts in again I'll tell him to hand over his Fluke and I'll hold them both above my head and ask if he is confident his Fluke will survive the drop, because I know the Extech will. My Radio Shack meter has served me well for 11 years and I haven't treated it the best, even though I have the Extech, I will not be retiring it.

I don't envy his Fluke 289, I feel sorry for it, it needs someone who knows how to put it to some real use.

[NiHaoMike]

There are plenty of HVAC systems, mainly recent commercial systems and high end residential systems, that can require an oscilloscope to troubleshoot the electronics. As electronics become cheaper, there's a trend to replace the standard switched loops with serial links in order to save on wiring cost and add features. Add in variable speed motors and there are plenty of things that cannot be completely checked with a multimeter.

[elliott]

There are plenty of HVAC systems, mainly recent commercial systems and high end residential systems, that can require an oscilloscope to troubleshoot the electronics. As electronics become cheaper, there's a trend to replace the standard switched loops with serial links in order to save on wiring cost and add features. Add in variable speed motors and there are plenty of things that cannot be completely checked with a multimeter.

I know the kinds of systems he works on and the kind of work he does, he uses the clamp on amp meter and the volt meter 99% of the time. Most systems he deals with still have sequencers. If it does have a digital control board, he'll just replace the whole board if there is a problem. In the automotive world, he would be known as a parts changing monkey, just change parts until it works again. I don't think he can even pronounce oscilloscope, let alone use one.

[RJSC]

I know an HVAC tech who uses a Fluke 289, which is such a waste. He turned up his nose at my Radio Shack 22-812 when I was working on a car, he told me to get a real meter. Checking against his Fluke, the differences in readings came down to rounding because mine had less digits. Nothing I was doing at the time needed more than 1% accuracy anyway and I know nothing in HVAC work needs that kind of accuracy either, the main thing he needs is the CAT III and CAT IV rating.

So true!

People buy Fluke's like people buy nike running shoes. To show off the brand.
To me, Fluke is poor value for money too. They're good, but the increase in quality is nowhere near the increase in price.

[IanB]

People buy Fluke's like people buy nike running shoes. To show off the brand.
To me, Fluke is poor value for money too. They're good, but the increase in quality is nowhere near the increase in prince.

But as I recently found to my disappointment, if you measure a 5 V reference with a Fluke meter it will read 5.0000 V near enough. When I measured a 5 V reference with a cheaper Protek meter it read 4.9986 V. The difference seems to be that the 0.025% basic accuracy on a Fluke is a worst case you will never encounter, whereas the same accuracy on a cheaper meter is the best it can do.